Scene #7227: Training Montage... For kids!

Owner	Pose
Haguro	After speaking with Lillie over the radio, Haguro has taken an interest in the girl for some reason. As promised, the cruiser arrives at Team Skull's mansion bright and early, dragging an comically large wooden crate behind her. She hasn't been to this neck of the woods before, so it takes a while for Haguro to even figure out where it is she should be going. ... In that she has no iae where she should be going. "Hm... Guzma? Rapp? Zipp? Tupp? Lillie?" Might as well make things easier and address the matter directly. "I'm here to begin Miss Lillie's training."
Guzma	Luckily for Haguro, the mansion is easy to find. Po Town is a walled city, with gate guards, who are also Team Skull grunts, so they let her in. They direct her to the mansion, and then tell her the gang's in the dining room (they already ate). The mansion is all shitty and beat up, and graffiti'd, and all that stuff. Passing through towards the dining room, Haguro finds a ruckus. Lillie is quietly trying to eat eggs while another blonde boy (Gladion) is watching her carefully, while Guzma and Plumeria are cheering on opposite grunts, who are arm-wrestling at the table, with Tupp, Rapp, and Zipp presenting beatboxing backing track. "Come on, kick their butt!" "Knucklehead, you can do it!" Plumeria's grunt wins. Guzma is frustrated, but then spots Haguro with her comically large crate, which stops him from getting angry. "Ah, Haguro. You made it. We were just finishing breakfast. Let's get set up in the office. Come on, Lillie." It's not phrased as an offer. Lillie /is/ their captive, and she understands that, so she quickly finishes the eggs and comes over. The office has a bean bag chair, an old broken wheely chair, and a mismatched desk. The desk is missing a big chunk, as if someone just tore it off somehow. There's room for the crate and supplies. "So, you're gonna train her?" Guzma asks. Lillie looks up at Haguro, admiring her form. She's pretty, the girl thinks.
Haguro	Part of Haguro wants to just throw some money at these people to get the place tidied up. Part of her finds it charming and wants to leave it alone, struggling to focus on what she came here to do. "... Huh? Ah, good morning, Guzma. Lillie. Everyone. Have fun." Snapping out of her brief distraction, she chuckles lightly and offers the grunts a light wave. Luckily, Guzma's got the sense to lead her and Lillie elsewhere, making the decision for her instead of leaving her to waffle about endlessly. She does make sure to leave a few bills in inconspicuous places, though. Once they're in the office proper, Haguro sets the crate aside for a moment while she scopes out the office proper. "That's right. She mentioned that she's not strong, and that she's not a Pokemon trainer. I thought I'd help her with one of those things." She smiles softly at Lillie for a moment, squinting after a moment to size the girl up. "... It'll take some time, but it worked for me. I used to be pretty weak myself, you know." Despite still wearing her usual uniform, Haguro's looking comfortable as ever moving in it and even doing physical labor. She take her cap off after a moment, setting it aside so as to not block her view while unpacking everything in that crate. It's one of those all-in-one home gym sets. Preassembled, which probably explains why the crate was so freaking big, but at least there's no need to assemble it. "Whether you stick with the routine or how you use the training is up to you. Do you want to get stronger? Strong enough to do good things and stop bad people?"
Guzma	The grunts wave back. One of them finds money eventually. He's so excited. They move into the office. Haguro talks to Lillie, telling her about making her stronger, and revealing that the crate is a gym set. Guzma laughs. "Man, you didn't have to do that for her." It seems like a waste to him, since she's a captive...but he's gonna set it up, if Lillie wants it. I mean, exercise is important. He's been jogging every day since Seifer told him to. Lillie gasps at the gym set. "That's...oh my. I've never used one of those. But..." She nods. "I do want to be stronger. So that I don't have to be the damsel...I want to be strong like Professor Kukui." Those words /immediately/ make Guzma irritable. He moves to leave the room /immediately/. "I got things to take care of. You've got free reign of the mansion. Watch her, got it?" He says to Haguro.
Haguro	"I know, but it's for her as much as it is for the rest of the crew." Haguro neglects to mention that she's used it once and promptly forgotten about it. Might as well put that guilt on someone else. "Besides, I heard Mister... Gladion? Has been getting into fights of his own, so he might want to take advatange of it, too." Not that she'll tell the boy directly, but she trusts in the rest of the team enough to figure it out themselves. Lillie's motivation has Haguro nodding slowly in approval, although Guzma's reaction to that last bit does catch her attention. "Ah... Of course. I'll keep her in line." She's not going to address that irritation, of course. She waits until Guzma's left the office before turning back to Lillie and holding a hand out. "Alright, Lillie... I want you to hit me. I need to know what I'm working with here." "I want to know if you're mentally ready to try and hurt people."
Guzma	As Guzma leaves, Lillie responds to the question about Gladion. "He's...trying his hardest." There's a sense of care about him. What's their connection? And then Haguro asks Lillie to punch her. She gasps, and staggers back. "Y-you want me to...what? I...okay." She goes with it because she doesn't have an alternative, and readies a punch. She's about to swing, and then... Doesn't. 5rAnd then tries again, and doesn't. She's so scared of hurting Haguro. So, she closes her eyes. This time she actually swings! She misses entirely. "D-did I do good?" She says, opening her eyes.
Haguro	Lillie's strange concern about Gladion doesn't go unnoticed, and Haguro hides a small chuckle at that. The punch, she doesn't chuckle at so much. She remains silent as Lillie gives it another go, and to Lillie's credit... She did actually try to swing. It was an awful swing, but it was a swing. She's resisting the urge to facepalm so hard right now. "It's... More than some of my past colleagues managed." When they were children. "Alright. We've got... A fair bit of work to do, but we're goingt o need to get you a strong foundation first. No sense learning the most efficient punching technique if you'll shatter you hand in the process." Clapping her hands together, Haguro stands up, picks up a 5 pound weight off the set, then holds it out to Lillie. "Take this. We're going for a walk." It's going to be a marathon sort of walking, but she really needs to start here before anything else.
Guzma	Lillie frowns when she fails, but Haguro's word choice stops her from being dejeted. "Okay..." Lillie takes the weight, and then immediately almost drops it because of noodle arms. She is not strong whatsoever. And then, she moves to walk. When the walk happens, she's slower than Haguro. Much slower. And she tires out faster. Even Guzma has more energy than her. She's probably never exercised in her life. She seems...like a sheltered girl, honestly. Haguro can get that vibe about her.
Haguro	It's going to be a very long walk. Haguro's taking Lillie arund the mansion in a massive loop the long way around, detouring towards whatever might look interesting, whatever might look like something a sheltered girl type wouldn't be allowed to go see or touch, but ultimately... It's an endurance run. Haguro doesn't actually run, of course, and she does pause to allow for breaks, but she's going to be pushing Lillie to her limit just from that. At least there's no running. And if Lillie collapses or completes ten laps around the mansion? Then Haguro will finally hoist her up to get her inside. Whatever the case is, though, her first question comes almost immediately. "How do you feel? Can you do it again?"
Guzma	Lillie collapses /long/ before ten laps. She does not have the stamina. Haguro helps her get inside, staggering, as she exhaustedly whines a little. Once they get to a chair, she speaks. "That's...how do you people do that? I...that's awful." Panting, a grunt brings her some water, which she downs immediately, and then thanks them for. "I...do I have to do that to get strong?" There's a clear hitch in her voice. She'll try to do it again if she has to, but...she doesn't want to.
Haguro	Nabbing some more water just in case, Haguro thanks the grunt before holding the extra drink out to Lillie while taking a seat nearby. She doesn't look like she's worked up a sweat at all, although that's probably to be expected considering the differences between them. "Repetition. It's awful the first time, and it'll probably be awful the next twenty times after that. But the more you do it, the easier it gets. And the easier it gets, the sooner you become stronger. The sooner you become stronger, the sooner you can learn proper techniques." She explains, waiting a moment for it all to sink in before looking Lillie dead in the eye. "And once you've finally done all that? You can start creating the change you want to see. It's going to be hard, though." She squats down, and sne flicks Lillie's knee gently. It's gentle for Haguro, anyway, but it might still be a little rougher than anticipated. "It's going to hurt. You'll need to be able to push past the pain. If you're sure you want to become stronger, then..." She looks up at the ceiling. It's not quite as dramatic as looking at the sky would be, but she's not quite close enough to a window to do that. "... We'll continue tomorrow morning. How's that sound?"
Guzma	Lillie feels more dejected, but Haguro's encouraging her, and then looks her in the eyes. "Okay...ow!" Her knee is flicked, and she rubs it, even if it doesn't hurt that bad. But in the end, Lillie looks up with her, and nods. "Okay...I'll keep doing it. Tomorrow, and then after that, we'll do it as long as...you want to help me." And then a pause, as she puts her hands together. "Uh, Haguro, my dream is to stop your allies, though. Why are you helping me?"
Haguro	Haguro smiles at Lillie's show of determination, giving her a light pat on the head (and then turning around to subtly wipe her hand off on her shirt because ). "However long I can, I'll keep teaching and training you." Ominous. What's less ominous is the answer to Lillie's question afterwards, although it might become apparent that Haguro's trying to shift her tone just enough to sound vaguely like the mysterious old mentor. "Is your dream that simple? If Team Skull... No. You mentioned that there was this Aether Foundation. Is your dream so focused on them, or is your dream to stop bad people?" A beat, and then the cruiser continues. "Doing good and stopping evil is a dream anyone can... Should encourage. Giving you a stronger foundation to get strong enough to do that, to pursue your own ambition, to do something else entirely..." This time, Haguro looks out the window. Much easier to look deep that way, especially since the distant look in her eyes is actually genuine. "What you do with it is up to you. I just want you to have that choice before you do something you regret."
Guzma	Lillie nods, though the ominous tone causes her to shake slowly. When asked about her dream..."I want to protect Nebby. I want to stop bad people from hurting him, or using him for personal gain...and that's the Aether Foundation. They've already hurt others before." She sounds determined, but unsure what exactly her goal is. "But...thank you. I'll do my best. I'll become a hero like my friends. ...though, I should probably find a Pokemon."
Haguro	"One step at a time. Even if you're not sure what your purpose... No, even what your next goal is beyond what's right in front of you, you'll figure out what you want to do in your own time." Haguro chuckles lightly as she heads towards the door, scooping up her hat to plant it back on. "I don't know anything about Pokemon, I'm afraid, so you'll have to ask Team Skull about that. I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Lillie." And indeed, Haguro returns the next day right on time. She aims to get Lillie back into the thick of things, taking laps around the mansion again with that weight while watching how she does. She's not expecting miracles, of course, especially not after wearing her down a little less than twenty-four hours prior, so she'll even slow down a bit more often to compensate. That doesn't stop her from asking stranger things, though. "Miss Lillie, have you ever heard of the trolley problem? One train, two tracks with people tied up on it?"
Guzma	Lillie nods. Tomorrow, then! Tomorrow, she runs longer. She holds out longer. She's pushing herself to do so, trying to impress Haguro, who is trying to help her. When Haguro asks her the question, she tilts her head. "No, I haven't. That's awful! Is it about how you can save everyone?"
Haguro	"It's not, actually. It's a..." Haguro strokes her chin, contemplating how to best word it. Lillie seems like a smart enough girl, but is someone her age ready for this sort of thing? Eh, why not. What's the worst that could happen? "It's a thought exercise, to assess your own morality on things like... Stuff I don't quite understand most of the time." Clearing her throat, Haguro finally gievs the scenario all while walking backwards! "You're standing by a lever. A train is coming down the tracks with a fork nearby. If the train keeps going on its path, it will run over five people. If you pull the lever, the train will move onto the other track and run over one person. Do you pull the lever?" A beat, and then she continues. "And yes, Elites probably would be able to seek a third option, but the purpose of the question is to see how one makes decisions when neither choice has a clearcut 'good' answer. It's... Honestly, a question I wish would have been on the Concord's interview at the time I had joined." She chuckles a moment later. "It would have... Made things much clearer to me much sooner.
Guzma	Lillie keeps running, using the conversation to distract from the pain. "Oh..." "Well, if you pull the lever, isn't that wrong? You killed them yourself...but if you don't pull the lever, the others die. Aren't you culpable either way...?" Yes, she knows the word culpable! But as she thinks it over, she sighs, and shrugs. "I don't know. This is really hard, miss Haguro! I don't know if I could pull that lever. I think I'd panic in the moment and they'd all d-die." At least she's not a third option person. She's also fifteen and not a hardened person, so.
Haguro	"That's... Right." Haguro seems genuinely surprised when Lillie connects pulling the lever with killing that person, not pulling the lever with still being responsible, and the realityof being a teenager more likely to just end up doing nothing in that type of situation. Once that initial surprise wears off, though, the Cruiser actually looks proud when she turns to Lillie again. "That's fine. You're young. I know only one person your... Well, younger than you who would be able to make that sort of decision without a second though, and she's kind of... Er. Terrifying in her own way." An awkward chuckle later, and Haguro starts to jog as well. "But you did fine. Understanding your weakness and your limits is an important step towards improving yourself. Getting stronger, being able to think faster, act more decisively... That's what training your mind and body is for. That way, when a situation does come up where there's a hard choice to be made and no clear good answer..." "You'll know what to do that's right for you. Not what anyone else thinks, but... What you think is right."
Guzma	"Eh?" Lillie is surprised she made a good answer. "I've read a lot. Never heard that theory, but I understand kinda how ethics work. Not like I'm ten..." She awkwardly laughs, and then tilts her head. "So...I have to be able to make that choice with what I think is right. Okay. Uhm. I think my legs are melting." That's probably the end of that session. "...what would you do, Haguro? Would you pull the lever?"
Haguro	"Of course. I just see so many adults that struggle with thatquestion and... Well." Haguro doest finish that thought, although there's an intense look of distant disappointment on her face as she says that. Best not to dwell on that too much. Not while she's trying to train Lillie! "You did better today. It'll be that way for a while, but you'll start to feel the improvements sssssoon...?" Right, Lillie's a human and not an immortal spirit. How long ago did Haguro even start her morning routine, anyway...? "I would. I mean, before..." Haguro chuckles lightly, offering Lillie a shoulder if she needs it. "A few years ago, I might have panicked, too. I used to be..." She turns to Lillie, furrowing her brow after a moment. What would be the most polite way to put it? "... Much more timid. I could barely assert myself at all. But now, I can't hesitate. I can't be a hero, but I'll stop more people from dying even if it means being culpable myself." She definitely used that word on purpose. "And... For whatever it's worth, I hope you never have to make that kind of decision."
Guzma	They get more water this time. A grunt says 'good luck, ladies!' to them as they finish. Lillie smiles a little, though she's still uncomfortable in this place. She's a prisoner, after all. But Haguro's being her friend. And she didn't have anything to do with the kidnapping. So, Lillie can trust Haguro, she thinks, more than she can trust Team Skull. "I...might have to make that decision. Maybe. I don't know exactly what Aether is doing, but it involves portals. Where, I don't know...but what if shutting them is similar?" It's a little bit of rambling, but, Lillie bets Guzma already knows all this, so it's not a secret that she's scared of getting out. "I'm enjoying this, I think. Thank you."
Haguro	"Portals? Huh... Well, if they're on the other side of those portals, perhaps, but... Morbid as it sounds, a soldier knows the risks they take and what they're hired to do." More ominous words! Haguro waves lightly in return to the grunt, then turns back to Lillie. "So.. It may be callous to say, but take some small relief in that fact. And... Thank you, for being willing to do this." She doesn't elaborate on why, but it might be easy enough to guess later in the day. On the third morning, Haguro returns once more! Again, it's a whole lot of training, but Haguro's strange questions don't come before training or during it. She doesn't even ask a weird thing. Instead, at the end of the training session, she takes a seat with Lillie. "Are you getting the hang of this? Do you... Feel like you can keep it up, even if I'm not watching?"
Guzma	The next day, Lillie does even better. Still not ten laps, but she's getting the hang of it, because she's been using the gym set and the guidebook with it on regimens. Haguro wants her to be strong, so she'll be strong. But Haguro doesn't ask her as weird a question. When they take a seat, Lillie takes a drink of water, and turns to Haguro. "...well, Guzma's friends have asked to train with me, and I know the course now, so...yeah. Why? Do you not want to help anymore?" It's a little sad, but, she understands. Haguro has big important things to do. She's not a hero, she said so herself, but she's important, right?
Haguro	Haguro blinks a few times at Lillie's question in return, then chuckles again and shakes her head lightly. "Oh, no, no. I do want to keep this up. You have potential. It's more..." She gestures towards the outside. It's kind of a broad gesture. "... What I'm doing later. It's going to be far more dangerous than what I usually do." There's a long pause before Haguro stands up, approaching Lillie with an inquisitive look. After a few long moments, she takes off her cap, then plants it on the girl's head. Or on top of her hat, either or. "Hold onto this until I return, alright?"
Guzma	"...do you think you're gonna die?" Is what the girl asks the ship, as she takes off her white hat as Haguro tries to put the cap on her. It matches her clothes, honestly. She holds her big hat to her chest, as she nods. "Okay. I'll return it to you. I promise."
Haguro	"I could. I... Hm. It's complicated, but there's a possibility it'll happen." Haguro responds matter of fact'ly. "That's the other thing about being an Elite. You'll.. Need to be prepared for this type of possibility all the time. If it's not something you don't want to risk, that's perfectly fine. Just... Know what you're getting into before you commit yourself to this." She gives Lillie another pat on the head once that hat's on. "... I think it looks good on you. I'll see you in the morning, alright?"
Guzma	Lillie nods. "I believe in you. Whatever it is you're going to do, I'll..." She tries to smile, a little. "I'll see you tomorrow!" Once Haguro leaves, Lillie goes back to the gym set. She has to do good work. And then, the next day, she can show Haguro the new results of her training.